For more than thirty-five years Maryland Sea Grant has provided citizens with in-depth, creditable information about Chesapeake Bay issues. Since 2002, Chesapeake Quarterly has served as Maryland Sea Grant's signature publication. The magazine's writers tell stories about the complex issues facing those who live in the Bay watershed — farmers, watermen, scientists, environmentalists, and others — and explain the science and outreach that inform decisions affecting us all.

Chesapeake Quarterly writers have won a series of awards for publication excellence over the past several years.

Taking the Long View: The Fall & Rise & Fall of Stripers and a Lot of Less-famous Fish" (Vol. 12, No. 1) by Michael W. Fincham won an excellence award in the category of Feature Writing from APEX, which honors work in nonprofit and business communications. The article examined what scientists have learned about the complex dynamics behind the rise and fall of fish populations in the Chesapeake Bay.

"The Chesapeake's Excellent Fossils" (Vol. 12, No. 4) by Daniel Strain won an excellence award in the category of Technical and Technology Writing from APEX. His article looks at the rich trove of marine fossils found in two cliff formations along the Chesapeake Bay and what it tells us about the organisms that lived in ancient oceans.

"A Model Plan: How Can We Gauge the Bay's Cleanup?" (Vol. 11, No. 3) by Daniel Strain won an excellence award in the category of Technology & Science Writing from APEX, which honors work in nonprofit and business communications. The article was about the computer models used by the Chesapeake Bay Program to guide the TMDL watershed cleanup plan.

"Menhaden: Test Case for New Fisheries Management" (Vol. 10, Nos. 2-3) with feature articles by Michael W. Fincham and graphic design by Sandy Rodgers, won an excellence award for the entire issue in the Magazine and Journals category. The issue covers the controversy over whether or not to limit the Chesapeake's menhaden fishery, and the emergence of a new kind of fisheries management.

2011

"Ready for Rising Waters?" (Vol. 9, No. 4) with feature articles by Michael W. Fincham and Erica Goldman and graphic design by Sandy Rodgers, won an excellence award for the entire issue in the Magazine and Journals category. The issue focused on climate change and its effects on sea level rise and hurricane intensity and frequency in the Chesapeake Bay.

"Going to Extremes: The Storm over Hurricanes" (Vol. 9, No. 4) by Michael W. Fincham won an excellence award for Feature Writing. The article gives a history of storm science and looks back at the biggest storms to hit the Chesapeake to answer the question, "Are bigger storms coming to the Bay?"

2010

"Can Trees Save the Bay?" (Vol. 8, No. 4) with feature articles by Jack Greer, won an award for Magazine & Journal Writing. Trees, under assault by development and disease, provide nature's frontline defense against runoff of nutrients and sediment.

"Reading the Rip," (Vol. 8, No. 3) with articles by Michael W. Fincham, won an award for Feature Writing. The U.S. Lifesaving Association estimates that rip currents kill more than 100 swimmers on our nation's beaches each year.

The issue "Renewing an Urban Watershed " (Vol. 7, No. 2), with articles by Erica Goldman and graphics and design by Sandy Rodgers, won for excellence in the Magazines and Journals category. The issue focuses on Watershed 263, an ultra-urban landscape where all the streams travel through underground pipes, and where restoration depends on community awareness and participation.

"Shadow on the Chesapeake," (Vol. 7, No. 3), an article by Jack Greer, won for Science and Environmental Writing. The article talks about the increasing turbidity that clouds the Chesapeake every year. Greer traces the work of two researchers who have uncovered clues to this puzzling haziness and the Bay's chronic eutrophication.

2008

Michael Fincham received an excellence in Magazine and Journal Writing award for his in-depth look at Pfiesteria on the tenth anniversary of the "hysteria" set in motion by the appearance of this algal cell in Maryland's Pocomoke River (Vol. 6, No. 1).

Erica Goldman received an award for Science and Environmental Writing for her feature article on the power of the Bay's "other filter feeders" — like mussels and clams — to clean up Chesapeake waters in an era when the oyster, the Chesapeake's major filter feeder, is in steep decline (Vol. 6, No. 2).

2007

"The MSX Files: Unmasking an Oyster Killer" (Vol. 5, No. 2) won for excellence in the Magazines and Journals category. With articles by Michael Fincham and graphics and design by Sandy Rodgers, the issue was devoted to the devastating oyster disease, caused by a mysterious parasite, that has plagued the Chesapeake Bay for more than fifty years.

Jack Greer won an award for "The River’s Keeper,” a profile on Drew Koslow, the riverkeeper for Annapolis's South River, whose job is to defend the river against pollution and to serve as its eyes, ears, and voice (Vol. 4, No. 4).

2006

The issue "Farms and the Bay" (Vol. 4, No. 1) won an excellence award in the category for Print, 4-color magazines. With articles by Jack Greer and graphics and design by Sandy Rodgers, this issue explores how farmers in the Chesapeake region face the dual challenges of working the land and protecting the waters.